Folding table



Sept. 28, 1948. A. E. PULS ETAL FOLDING TABLE Filed May 16. 1945 INVENTORSL 44770NEY5 Patented Sept. 28, 1948 FOLDING TABLE Alfred E. Puls, .Cleveland, Ohio, and Edward R.

Swenson, Metropolis, Ill., assignors to Metropolis Bending Company, Metropolis, lll., a corporation of Illinois Application May 16, 1945, Serial No. 594,110

2 Claims. (Cl. 3 1-1-98) This invention relates to foldable tables and has for its general object to provide an improved construction of the means whereby the supporting members for such tables may be maintained in extended position.

More limitedly, it is an object of our invention to provide a simple and efficient construction of brace rods, and a cooperating construction of pivotal supports for the opposite ends of these rods, carried respectively by the supporting members and by the apron member associated therewith, whereby the supporting members may be maintained in extended position and may be folded thereafter in proximity to the apron members.

We accomplish the foregoing objects in and through the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings hereof, wherein Fig. 1 represents a sectional View through a portion of a table top showing one of the supporting members pivotally connected to one of the apron members of the said top and provided with our supporting means; Fig. 2 is a detail in section showing the manner in which the ends of the brace rod illustrated in Fig. 1 are supported by the apron member and the table supporting member; and Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Fig. 2, showing a modification of the brace rod and the manner of supporting the same from the apron member and the table supporting member.

Describing the various parts by reference characters, Ill denotes the top of a table, II one of a pair of opposed apron members thereof and l2, l2 another pair of opposed apron members. l3, I3 denote supporting members which, as shown herein, may in turn form, with the corresponding supporting members which are pivoted to the opposite apron member I l, side supports such as shown in our application Serial No. 530,782, filed April 13, 1944, wherein the supporting members are connected by an upper rail 14 and a lower rail l5. Each end of the top rail 14 is pivotally connected to its apron member H by means of an angle bracket I8 having one flange rigidly secured to the rail and having its opposite flange pivotally secured to its adjacent apron member by means of a pivot pin I! mounted within a strap l8 secured to said apron member.

For the purpose of holding the supporting members 13 in their respective extended positions, we provide brace rods shown at IS, the

upper end of each brace rod being bent at right angles, as shown at Ili and extending through an aperture provided for the reception thereof in the elevated central portion Zll of a metal retaining plate 20,'the plates being secured to the opposed apron member II, as by screws 2|.

The opposite end of each of the brace rods 19 is bent at right angles to the body thereof, as shown at 19 and extends through a bore I3 provided therefor in the appropriate supporting member l3 and extending from one side of the latter to and terminating in a recess [3 extending from the opposite side thereof; and the end of the portion 19 of the rod is shown as anchored in place by means of a washer 22 which is slipped over such end, the extreme outer end of such portion being split, as shown at |9, thereby providing a head constituting a lateral extension of such end, thereby to prevent the withdrawal of the end portion 19 of the brace rod from the supporting member I3.

When it is desired to fold the legs or supporting members 13, it is necessary only to spring the short end portions l9 out of the aperture provided therefor in the brackets 20, the brace rods being sufficiently resilient to permit this action, whereupon the said legs or supporting members may be folded up in proximity to or between the apron members I I.

The foregoing construction and arrangement of parts are shown and described in our aforesaid application Serial No. 530,782, of which this application is a continuation in part.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a modification of the manner of pivotally connecting the brace rods with the legs or supporting members and the apron members. In this view, the upper end of the brace rod 23 is elongated, as shown at 23% and projects into an aperture 1 l provided therefor in the apron member H, thereby preventing accidental removal of such end from the bracket aperture. The lower end of the rod is bent at right angles from the body thereof, as shown at 23 and extends entirely through the supporting member 13 and through a washer 2i, the extreme end being formed into a rivet 23 constituting a lateral extension of such end.

For convenience of description, the parts are assumed to be in the positions which they occupy in the drawings and the terms upper and lower have been used for convenience of descripti-on, but without any intention of thereby limiting the parts to the positions which they are shown as occupying herein.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

l. A foldable table having a top comprising an apron and supporting member each of which is hingedly connected to an apron member, and

means for maintaining the supporting members in extended table-supporting position, said means comprising resilient brace rods each having one end bent at substantially right angles therefrom and projecting through a bore extending into the appropriate supporting member from one side thereof, the extreme end of such bent portion being provided with a lateral extension thereof to prevent withdrawal of such end portion from such bore, and mean for detachably connecting the opposite end of each brace rod with the apron member to which the supporting member is pivotally connected, the said means comprising a retaining plate connected to the said apron mem-. her and provided with an aperture and the apron member having a recess registering with the said aperture, and the said opposite end of the said rod being bent at right angles and projecting through said aperture and into the said recess.

2. In the foldable table set forth in claim 1, the retaining plate primarily lying flush against the apron member. and having an outwardly bulged portion in which the aperture is located.

ALFRED E. PULS. EDWARD R. SWENSON.

5 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

10 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 371,875 Bunker Oct, 18, 1887 1,288,385 Cofiin Dec. 17, 1918 1,675,355 King July 3, 1928 15 1,697,550 Amaducci Jan. 1, 1929 1,774,557 Kalgren Sept. 2, 1930 1,906,865 Knox May 2, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 20 Number Country Date 516,333 Great Britain Dec. 29, 1939 

